Assignment 4

Design of solar PV system for my home

By
A.NARENDRAN (13MEE0031)
M.TECH (ENERGY & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGG)

SITUATION

Being an Energy engineer, I thought to design a Renewable energy

system for my home since our power consumption for the past one year was so
high. We installed of 875W inverter with battery bank system (2012) in order to
meet the energy crisis but now it has become main reason for high power
consumption so we are in need to reduce electricity price. The following figure
will explain the power consumption and its charges in my home for the past
year:

IDENTIFICATION OF RENEWABLE ENERGY RESOURCES

My home town is cheyyar located in Thiruvannamalai District with
12.6580 N, 79.5424 E latitude and longitude. There was a Cheyyar cooperative sugar Mills Ltd near to my home (6 Km) Where I can get baggase to
produce power by means of bio gasification technology. Baggase from sugar
mill contains about 48.50% moisture, 48.0% fibre and 2.40% sugar and other
minor constituents and 1 kg of Baggase = ` 18.28. I need 1 Kg of biomass (Baggase + Kitchen waste + Garden waste) (2 m 3 of gas) to run 1 HP Generator
by means of biogas from which 700 W power can be produced but cost of this
technology is `12,500/Kw.

Next option which suits for renewable energy power generation is Micro
Wind mill. The average wind speed in cheyyar is 9Km/h which has the potential
to run 1.5 Kw (117 Kwh monthly generation) wind mill and the cost of power
generation is 2 2.5 Lacs/Kw.
The most suitable technology for all the residential power generation is
solar photovoltaic system since it was independent of fuel, available in all
seasons (not during night) and it can be harnessed wherever required. The
average amount of solar radiation received by cheyyar is - 5.14kWh/m 2/d. The
cost of solar power is roughly ` 40,000(1hour back up) to put up a 1 KW system
which would generate about 5 units of electricity a day which is far enough to
power lighting, fans and a fridge in a typical two-bedroom house.
From the above results I came to know that even though bio gasifier is
quite less costly for a 1 kW but it has some problems like transportation,
maintenance and if its commercial one cost will be so high. Hence, I decided to
put a solar PV system for my home but only for the partial load (Hybrid
system).
SOLUTION METHODOLOGY
For my home it is very convenient to install Solar PV system at terrace
which has plenty of places to accommodate a 2.4 kW panel (25 sq.m) and also I
planned to harness heat energy from the PV system by means PV-T (Photo
voltaic thermal)

collector. PV-T stands for Photovoltaic-Thermal which

generates both electricity and usable thermal heat at the same time from one
panel. These systems combine a photovoltaic cell, which converts
electromagnetic radiation (photons) into electricity, with a solar thermal
collector, which captures the remaining energy and removes waste heat from the
PV module.

The efficiency of solar PV is 12-18%, the drop in efficiency is due to the

rise in temperature due to increased resistance, what solar PV needs is a partner
able to complement its strengths and compensate its deficiencies. Fortunately,
such a partner exists that is called solar thermal. Such systems can be modified
to carry heat away from the PV cells thereby cooling the cells and thus
improving their efficiency by lowering resistance. In the PV-T system by
cooling the PV cells electrical generation is increased and the waste heat is
captured for utilization in the building, thus maximizing the return from the
available solar radiation.

LOAD ANALYSIS
The total amount of connected load in my home is 4.53 kW and the types
of load are:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

IBM washing machine

Whirl pool refrigerator
Luminous inverter
Venus water heater
Sharp Television
Wibro laptop (2)
Bajaj Fans (5)

2150 W
1280 W
875 W
759 W
350 W
130 W
300 W

8. Philips Tube lights (4)

9. CFL (4)
10. Other loads
(Supply port, iron box)

144 W
44W

1000 W

Among the total connected I am going to design PV-T for 2.43kW for
generating power and heat. The total area required by the system is 2.43*10
(1kW) = 25 Sq.m and the maximum power generated for that particular area is
25m2*1000W/m2*0.15 = 3750W
COMPONENTS
The various components needed for 2.4 kW PV-T system are
100W stripped panel (Mono)
Copper tube
Aluminum back sheet
Teflon coated fiber glass
Glass wool
Water pump
Connecting tubes

24V

1.5m x 1m (24units)
inch (15m)
2m x 1m (24 pieces)
To insulate PV & Al sheet
As per req. to insulate copper tube

BLOCK DIAGRAM

When the solar energy from the sun falls on the hybrid solar panel, solar
photovoltaic array (2400W array) on the top of the panel absorbs light energy
(Photons) from the sun rays and converts into electricity by the principle of
photo electric effect. At the same time the heat energy from the sun is passed
into the tubes carrying coolant so that water or air in it gets heated and

converted into hot water or hot air. The hot water from the hybrid solar panel is
collected in a hot water tank. The coolant is supplied to the solar thermal
collectors from the overhead storage tank by means of 24V water pump which
is powered by one part of the hybrid solar panel or with help of external cells.
The Output DC voltage from the solar panel is send to the voltage regulator to
give the constant 12V by arresting the fluctuations produced during low
insolation period. The 12V output from regulator is stored in 115Ah capacity
battery by means of 875W luminous inverter. The inverter also serves the
function of distributing 220V AC supply to the home (Hybrid system
Commercial Electricity + solar power).
DESIGN OF SOLAR PV SYSTEM
1. Solar PV-T panel
Specifications:
1. Stan tubular ST500 (115 Ah) battery

Amount of power supplied by the battery per hour = 115Ah*12V

= 1380 Wh
Maximum Solar power produced from the 2400W array per day
= Module rated capacity*peak sunshine hours*fill factor (accounts for loss)
= 2400*4*0.85 = 8160Wh

Power that can be utilized by the electrical appliances are given by

1.
2.
3.
4.

Tube light - 4*36W = 144W*6 (operating hours)= 864Wh

Fan - 2*60W = 120W*6 = 720Wh
CFL - 4*11W = 44W*6 = 264Wh
Laptop - 2*65 = 130W*6 = 780Wh
Total = 2628Wh (which can be easily supplied by the 15% Mono
crystalline panel placed in an area of 25m2 having standard insolation
1000 W/m2 )

Area of single panel = Length of solar cell * Width of solar cell*No.of cells
= 15*10-2 m*15*10-2 m*36=0.81 m2
Power produced from single panel = Voltage*Current*No.of cells
= 0.5V*3A*36 = 54 W
= approx. 100W (Mono crystalline panel)
Total panels required and their area is = 2400 W/100W = 24 panels
= 24*0.81 = 19.2 m2
The design of Hybrid solar panel is quite different from the conventional
solar PV that is I am going to take aluminum as the base material because it has
excellent heat transfer capability at cheap cost. Then solar PV is to be built over
the aluminum back plate with the insulation having zero electrical conductivity
and high thermal conductivity such that heat received by the solar cells is
directly transferred to base material without any dissipation.
The captured heat energy is utilized to heat coolant carried by the copper
tube as a result hot water is obtained. The hot water from the hybrid solar panel
is collected in a storage unit which has adjacent cold water storage tank. The
thermocouple between these two tanks converts temperature difference into
electricity in addition to power obtained by solar PV.

The above design is more efficient only for summer season but in case of
winter the design of hybrid solar panel has some modifications. The
modification involves change of coolant. Instead of water, usage of air helps in
heating the living space during winter by means of hot air obtained as a result
from hybrid solar panel.
(a) BUILDING HEAT EXCHANGE SYSTEM
This is the first and foremost procedure for building the hybrid solar
panel. It involves design of heat exchange system which is used to transfer the
captured heat energy from the solar cells to the coolant passed behind the
aluminium plate through copper pipe. The equipment needed for heat exchange
mechanism are aluminium back sheet of dimension 200cm x 100cmx0.07cm
and copper pipe of 15m (diameter =1/4 inch).

Heat exchange system

The first step in this design involves straightening the aluminium back
sheet because it is available in the roll form then we have to give some weight
in order to make it to be suitable for building the solar PV system at the top and
soldering the copper at the bottom. The second step is that bending the copper in
W shaped structure and it should cover the entire aluminium sheet. Bending
the copper pipe is a critical task but usage of proper bending tool will make the
task simple by avoiding pinching. In reality soldering the copper pipe with
aluminium is not possible but it rectified by using right flux known as

aluminium flux paste. We followed another one easiest way that is connecting
copper pipe with aluminium back sheet by the processing of tying it with the
surface. Before bending the copper pipe the size of Al plate must be taken into
consideration so that the pipe can reliably cover the entire surface.
(b) ELECTRICAL CONNECTION OF SOLAR CELLS
Building solar PV system over the aluminium back sheet will be the
second stage of hybrid solar panel design. The solar cells should be connected
in series to provide electron flow. An array of 36 cells is large enough to
generate max.14 to 17V to charge the battery. Hence, I used 36 - 2 bus bar mono
crystalline solar cells so there will be choice for 12V and 24V operation. The
bottom side of solar cell will be the positive terminal and the top side will be the
negative terminal.
Soldering the solar cells
Soldering the solar cells involves connecting the cells with the help of
solder coated tabbing wire. The equipments needed for this process are 25W
soldering iron; solder coated tabbing wire, rosin flux pen.

Animated picture about 2 bus bar solar cell connections in series

The first step in electrical connection is rusting and cleaning
(grooming)the solar cells so that soldering will be quite efficient. Rusting
involves smoothening the edges of solar cells which helps in making the cells to
be groomed. After that we need to cut the tabbing wire of size greater than the
size of two cells, then apply rosin flux over the bus bar.

Top and bottom side view of 3 bus bar solar cell

Rosin flux pen will increase the quality of soldering.Use 25W soldering
iron to solder tabbing wire to the bus bar at the top of the solar cells then use
your flux pen to flux the 6 dots on the back of the solar cell. Lay the tabs from
the first solar cell and lay those on top of the dots (Make sure this cell is also
upside-down). Take the soldering iron and put it on the tab. Hold it there until
heat wave go across the white dot. When the task is over, pull the soldering iron
away. Repeat the above steps until the entire strand are connected to form 24
units of 100W solar panel.
(C) PROVIDING INSULATION BETWEEN SOLAR PV AND AL SHEET
The ultimate aim of this design is to harness both heat and ligh tenergy
from the sun so what I have to do is I need to pass the heat energy received by
the solar cells to Al sheet hence i have to concentrate on insulation between.
Conventional insulation used was EVA (Ethylene Vinyl Acetate) but it will not
allow heat energy to pass through so I choose Tefon coated fiber glass sheet
which has the property of high thermal conductivity and Zero electrical
conductivity.
(D). FRAMING THE SOLAR PANEL
The entire setup was enclosed by using aluminim beeding with temperd
glass at the top. Here there is another insulation known as glass wool which acts

as an thermal insulation to avoid heat loss from copper pipe to the surrounding
environment.

2. VOLTAGE REGULATOR
A charge controller, or charge regulator is basically a voltage and/or current
regulator to keep batteries from overcharging. It regulates the voltage and
current coming from the solar panels going to the battery. Most "12 volt" panels
put out about 16 to 20 volts, so if there is no regulation the batteries will be
damaged from overcharging. Most batteries need around 14 to 14.5 volts to get
fully charged.
Functions of voltage regulator
Blocks reverse current
Prevents battery over-charge
Prevents battery over-discharge

 Protects from electrical overload

Display battery status and the flow of power (optional)
Modern CCs have MPPT integrated into it
Many have battery temperature compensation also (for differential
charging rates)
Generally small arrays do not need a Charge Controller not
economically viable also.
3. Battery and Inverter system
Battery is an electrochemical device which converts chemical energy into
electricity. It purposes is to store the 12V DC from the PV system as well as the
power from commercial TNEB distribution for backup through Inverter system.
Inverter converts stored DC voltage to AC system, it also helps to maintain the
input supply of 220 230V to the electrical appliance in my residency. Here
875W acts as the device to control input voltage to the battery as well as the
residency. The battery is a lead acid battery with 115Ah with DoD of 80%
manufactured by STAN tubular.

Design layout:
Sunny design (software of SMA technology)
Sunny design is user friendly PV design software to give information about a
PV plant of grid (or) off grid system. I have designed a stand-alone PV system
with self-consumption scheme using Chennai data (Trail version No Vellore
data).
Simple

Optimal design for grid-connected PV plants

Provides tips aimed at system optimization

Free download
Comprehensive

Includes comprehensive database of all available PV modules

Use of high-resolution meteorological data

Supports locations worldwide

Automatic dimensioning of the cable lengths and cross sections

Energy analysis over a period of one operating year

COST ESTIMATION
1) 36 Polycrystalline 2 bus bar solar cell (`105 each)

Rs.3780

2) 2x1 Aluminium back sheet

Rs.378

3) 2x1 Teflon coated fiber glass insulation

Rs.998

4) 5m Copper pipe with bender

Rs.525

5) 2x1 Glass wool

Rs.200

6) Framing tools and its accessories

Rs.150

7) 2x1 Tempered clear glass glass

Rs.432

8) 24V DC water pump

Rs.175

9) Soldering iron

Rs.75

10) RTV silicone glue

Rs.135

11) Soldering flux

Rs.75

TOTAL

Rs.6923 (100W)

Note: Cost mentioned above all are including taxes.

Therefore for 24 (2400W) units totat cost is given by = 24*6923
= ` 1,66,152

RET screen result (Climate data for Kanchipuram Nandivaram)

CONCLUSION
From the above design I conclude that the PV plant that has been
installed has the capacity to generate maximum of 3750W with area of 25m 2
using 15% 2 bus bar mono crystalline cells. The RET screen result shows that
the payback period is 4.5 years. I can also avail some quantity of hot water from
the entire setup which is stored in the hot water storage tank.

References
[1] http://www.cheyyarcosugars.net.in/prodinfo.html
[2] http://www.nrg-consultants.com/woodchipgasifierspower/index.html
[3]http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/agriculture/biowaste-gasifier-that-worksout-cheaper-than-grid-power/article95927.ece
[4] www.rcuk.ac.uk/documents/india/Biorefining-India.pdf
[5]http://www.myforecast.com/bin/climate.m?
city=66043&metric=true&selectedMonthNum=10
[6] www.windcareindia.com/Small%20Wind%20Profile.pdf
[7]https://eosweb.larc.nasa.gov/cgibin/sse/retscreen.cgi?email=rets
%40nrcan.gc.ca&step=1&lat=12.6580&lon=79.5424&submit=Submit
[8] http://www.rajelectronics.org/solar-power-packs-409842.html
[9]http://sustainabilityoutlook.in/content/5-things-consider-you-plan-rooftoppv-plant
[10] http://www.solimpeks.com/pv-t-hybrid-collectors/
[11] http://www.sfindustrial4u.com/products_details.php?id=cA%3D%3D

[12] http://www.solartechnology.co.uk/faqs/calculating-your-solar-requirments
[13] http://www.solar-electric.com/solar-charge-controller-basics.html
[14]

http://www.sunnydesignweb.com/sdweb/SunnyDesign/PvPlant?

ProjectId=d6937944-4037-499c-bdd6-d581376daaa2#
[15] http://www.retscreen.net/
[16] http://www.solarpoweristhefuture.com/index.shtml
[17] http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/Generating-energy/Choosing-arenewable-technology/Solar-panels-PV
[18] http://www.renewableenergyfocus.com/view/10922/solar-pv-andthermal-a-marriage-made-in-heaven/
[19] http://www.bijlibachao.in/Solar/solar-panel-price-in-india.html